TAMAM: A School-Based Reform Model
TAMAM was initiated in 2007 as part of a memorandum of understanding between the Arab Thought Foundation (ATF) and the American University of Beirut (AUB). Through continuous funding, TAMAM has transformed into an educational Movement that spans 9 Arab countries, comprising more than 1000 practitioners in 72 schools collaborating with 32 researchers from 12 different universities, 42 coaches and numerous policymakers to design and implement impactful school-based improvement.
Our Vision
TAMAM is an educational Movement in the Arab world that promotes transforming schools into self-renewing institutions, with broad based leadership capacity for change working in a concerted effort through strong partnerships with research universities, policy-makers and community members toward enhancing the transformative role of schools to graduate the next generation that leads innovation and change in their society. TAMAM educators are leaders of change enacting their collaborative expertise to generate knowledge that is grounded in the cultural fabric of the Arab region and that triggers innovative practices for sustainable school-based improvement.
Our Mission
TAMAM operates as a research lab adopting emancipatory collaborative action research to produce practical knowledge that can inform and refine the process of leading sustainable school-based improvement towards schools that are proactively engaged in their community. As action researchers, the TAMAM Steering Team develops research-based designs to build the leadership capacity of teams of educators to initiate, plan, monitor, implement and evaluate innovative initiatives while concurrently supporting them as they acquire Competencies needed to lead sustainable school-based improvement. These research-based designs also encompass strategies to build partnerships with students, the school community, research institutions, ministries of education, donors, and training centers and to empower Arab educators to influence educational policy in their countries.
TAMAM aims to address four key concerns
the absence of a culturally-grounded research based body of educational knowledge that is in line with international best practices and capable of addressing the challenges of Arab educational practitioners
the lack of agency and preparedness among school based practitioners to lead innovative school improvement
the compromised quality of professional development programs offered to Arab educational practitioners
the lack of accountability and evidence-informed decision-making at all levels of the educational system.
